Writer/director James Vanderbilt began work on the World War II drama “Nuremberg” over ten years ago, when he first read Jack El-Hei’s “The Nazi and the Psychiatrist.” That book, about the relationship between imprisoned Nazi official Hermann Göring and the psychiatrist assigned to assess his mental state in preparation for the Nuremberg trials of 1945 and 1947, took hold of Vanderbilt and wouldn’t let go, no matter how long the process of raising money and getting the production off the ground took. The melody is beautiful, but in the background, you hear a chord that’s wrong, and it’s the chords of the bells that used to be played for the prisoners. “The question was how can I do that with notes, not lyrics or words?” The process of finding a musical corollary for one of the darkest periods in human history while also celebrating the resilience of those who resisted was a transforming one for Tyler, who underwent one of the most intense personal struggles of his life while writing the score.
Author: Jim Hemphill
Published at: 2025-11-25 22:00:00
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